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Sunset Song Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Lewis Gibbon (Author), Eileen McCallum (Narrator), Canongate Books Ltd (Publisher)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 620 ratings
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The most acclaimed Scottish novel of all time, Sunset Song is a powerful portrait of a land and people in turmoil, seen through the life and struggles of its heroine, Chris Guthrie.

In the years up to and beyond the First World War, Chris' resilience, like the land itself, endures despite everything and is portrayed with a lyrical intensity that echoes through the years and still resonates today.

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  1. Book 1 of 3
    A Scots Quair
  2. Listening Length
    11 hours and 5 minutes
  3. Author
    Lewis Gibbon
  4. Narrator
    Eileen McCallum
  5. Audible release date
    November 26, 2015
  6. Language
    English
  7. Publisher
    Canongate Books Ltd
  8. ASIN
    B017Y5DO4C
  9. Version
    Unabridged
  10. Program Type
    Audiobook
  11. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 5 minutes
Author Lewis Gibbon
Narrator Eileen McCallum
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date November 26, 2015
Publisher Canongate Books Ltd
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B017Y5DO4C
Best Sellers Rank #176,141 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#2,086 in War & Military Fiction
#3,206 in Military Historical Fiction
#3,431 in Family Life Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
620 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the story masterful and pleasurable. They also say the characters are richly developed and you care about them. Opinions are mixed on the writing quality, with some finding it wonderful and evocative of the Scotch musical way of speaking, while others find it unreadable.

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StoryCharactersWriting quality
15 customers mention "Story"15 positive0 negative

Customers find the story masterful, glorious, and heartbreaking. They also appreciate the family at Blawearie as loving and poetic. Readers also appreciate rich descriptions of landscape and people.

"...I read the book in about a week. It was a very pleasurable experience." Read more

"...It is definitely a good read for anyone interested in the social history of Scotland's rural population in the early 20th century...." Read more

"...Harsh, glorious, and heartbreaking, the story took me inside of Chris--her heart and mind...." Read more

"...One you get through that, the story gets more and more intriguing...." Read more

6 customers mention "Characters"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters in the book richly developed. They say they care about them.

"A powerful, lyric ode to the vanishing of a way of life. Vivid characters, a beautiful, warts and all, portrait of village life in northeastern..." Read more

"...The characters are very well developed and the story draws you in as if you were living it...." Read more

"...Memorable, engaging characters" Read more

"Fabulous book ... a vivid story and and amazing heroine. A gem of a novel that was previously unknown to me!" Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"3 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book. Some find it wonderful and evocative of the Scotch musical way of speaking, while others find it unreadable.

"Wonderful writing, evocative of the Scotch musical way of speaking. Memorable, engaging characters" Read more

"...my book club whose first language is not English, found the language to be hard work." Read more

"Beautifully written." Read more

"...The author uses many Scottish expressions, making if somewhat difficult for a modern reader, but the sense is very clear and the effort more than..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Mary L
5.0 out of 5 stars A moving pre-WWI story, woman as central character, rich descriptions of landscape and people
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2023
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I ordered and read this book after watching the movie adaptation. The author brings forth Scottish culture and values pre-WWI. Chris, the central character, is well-developed and constantly evolving toward a deeper understanding of self. The author seems able to take the reader into the world of Chris, her understandings, frustrations, hopes and experiences.

An appendix is provided for people and places of the time.
A glossary is provided for Scottish words.

I read the book in about a week. It was a very pleasurable experience.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the read
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2016
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This is a classic of Scottish literature. The first novel is likely the most read, but the other two follow main characters through several decades of their lives. It is definitely a good read for anyone interested in the social history of Scotland's rural population in the early 20th century. The trilogy shows how all the social, political and economic factors of the times affected the poor. Too often, we only read/see how such factors affected the wealthy, e.g. the characters in Downton Abbey. So, the trilogy gives the reader a more rounded sense of what it was like to live through these times. The attempt to replicate rural dialects can be charming, but members of my book club whose first language is not English, found the language to be hard work.
3 people found this helpful
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B. Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars A Scottish Revelation
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2016
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This is one of my favorite books. Though written by a man, it presents a woman's point of view in a harsh rural setting in Scotland at the turn of the century. Some people might find it tedious to wade through the first chapter because it presents the history of a town since the dawn of civilization: it setting, legends, and characters. I found it fascinating because it gave me the feeling, when the contemporary story began, that I had grown up in the area and knew the background on all of the characters that cross the main character's path. The main character is Chris, a young teenage woman who experiences her family's move to the countryside around Aberdeen, Scotland. Her vivid descriptions of the landscape, the people she encounters, and her family make this an uncommon story of a young woman's spirit and experience. Because Chris has experienced some education and excelled in her studies, her manner of speaking alternates between proper English and the rural dialect of the region, giving the reader a sense of what was happening throughout Scotland's countryside at the time: the intrusion of modernity into ancient rhythms and rural, isolated ways of being. Harsh, glorious, and heartbreaking, the story took me inside of Chris--her heart and mind. She is part of my memory now as though I had really known her and the contradictions of family life in rural Scotland more than 100 years ago.
22 people found this helpful
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Ralph E Avery
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2020
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A powerful, lyric ode to the vanishing of a way of life. Vivid characters, a beautiful, warts and all, portrait of village life in northeastern Scotland through the end of WWI. Musical and poetic and intensely moving. The author uses many Scottish expressions, making if somewhat difficult for a modern reader, but the sense is very clear and the effort more than rewarded. Don’t miss it!
4 people found this helpful
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Pauline C
5.0 out of 5 stars Scottish story telling at its finest.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2015
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This book was on our reading list in senior school, and I failed to make it through. However, when I did the play, which I loved, I reread the book and fell in love with it. The language is somewhat difficult to tune into at first, but persevere and you will find yourself on a journey with young Chris as she grows up on a farm in the Mearns of Scotland. It is a coming of age story through the first world war and beyond. You will fall in love with all her neighbors and fight along side of her as she struggles to maintain her life.
7 people found this helpful
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P. Hooper
3.0 out of 5 stars times past
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2015
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Obviously a classic detailing that era, but somewhat hard going at first but as the story developed I found I could empathize with the characters
2 people found this helpful
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David Freeman
4.0 out of 5 stars The author uses many Scottish words and phrases so I would recommend that you Google "Sunset Song glossary" before you start ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2016
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The beginning of this book moves very slowly through the history of a small Scottish village. One you get through that, the story gets more and more intriguing. The characters are very well developed and the story draws you in as if you were living it. The author uses many Scottish words and phrases so I would recommend that you Google "Sunset Song glossary" before you start so that you can understand the meaning of them.
15 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars You will remember this one, long after you've finished it.
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2018
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Just loved it! Since I'm a "chapter reader" who doesn't like to end my reading time before I come to the end of a chapter, this was a challenge! Only 4 chapters! I finished it to the detriment of all of the other things I had to do, but it was worth it. I will buy the other book in the series. It gave me a different slant on the war as far as Scots are concerned.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Moumita Debnath
5.0 out of 5 stars the most fast-paced novel i've read.
Reviewed in India on July 7, 2022
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the scottish dialect runs pretty fast on the tongue, or well just the mind too. ;)
i could not stop reading it once i began.....the action never slows down, even the descriptions are such a design!
this has to be one of the best novels to exist.
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Montealto
5.0 out of 5 stars Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon is a forgotten masterpiece of fiction, set in Scotland.
Reviewed in Canada on September 24, 2020
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Sunset Song is a remarkable novel by the little known Scottish writer from the early twentieth century, Lewis Grassic Gibbon. In a sweeping prologue covering several centuries he writes a stream of consciousness history of the land in central Scotland that will become the home of his main character, a farm girl of extraordinary resilience. Much use is made of the Scots dialect to give authenticity to the dialogue of the characters and their strong connection to the land. Though largely unknown abroad, this novel and its two sequels are well known in Scotland, highly regarded and have been made into stage plays and films. The author died in his early thirties. An outstanding achievement!
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Un régal.
Reviewed in France on January 31, 2018
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Envie de lire le livre après avoir vu le film. Je ne connaissais pas cet auteur et ce fut une bien agréable découverte. Livre d'une grande sensibilité ,personnages attachants, descriptions convaincantes. On le ferme à regrets.
One person found this helpful
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Mark B
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Lyrical and Touching
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 29, 2013
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The story of the lives of scottish crofters before and around the second world war, this is a gorgeously written and moving book, brimming with closely-observed imagery and a subtlety of human character that is beautifully woven into the tales of everyday life.

There are complaints in other reviews that the book is dense and hard to get into, and the first several chapters (it's extremely obvious when they end) certainly ARE a little random, for they set the scene of cast and landscape within which the remainder of the story takes place. The other potential obstacle is the language - if you are unable to accept the Scots vernacular and roll with some local, dialect words, then I guess it might stick. We're definitely not talking Irvine Welsh here, mind, but, certainly as I found it, a beautifully lyrical turn of phrase with some specialist and Scots vocabulary that, personally, I feel we probably miss in today's world.

If you enjoyed Cider With Rosie or any of the Lillian Beckwith books then you'll very likely enjoy this too. I certainly did.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars The Good and the Bad
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 13, 2024
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Brilliant book - very moving - would recommend

NO GLOSSARY - NO APPENDIX - instead a random thesis on Light and Colour but students from Hull and Salford .....will be asking for a complete copy
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